lo Nov., 1909.] Bees and Fruit Fertilization. 695 



cucumbers profitably, it is necessary that the greatest fjossible amount of 

 fruit should set on each vine. At the time of my visit there were 600 

 acres of cucumbers grown in the neighbourhood of the apiary, and while 

 Dr. Miller's bees greatly benefited by the supply of pollei> and honey thus 

 provided, the success of cucumber growing is at the same time in a large 

 measure due to the presence of a large apiary. 



The fruit-growers of many States, when planting orchards in new and 

 isolated places, found that their orchards yielded unprofitable crops where 

 no bees existed in the locality. When this fact was discovered, and a few 

 colon,ies of bees were established in or near the orchard, the yields of fruit 

 became normal. Americans specialize in nearly every kind of rural pro- 

 duction, and it is a very common practice for a fruit grower to plant a 

 large orchard of one variety only. In the case of at least one variety of 

 pear, the Bartlett or Williams's Bon Chretien, and some varieties of apples 

 and plums, it was found that e\en when bees were kept these varieties 

 proved barren unless some other variety of the same species existed in or 

 near the orchard, the reason lieing that the varieties referred to could not 

 be fertilized by their own pollen. 



The blossom of the grape \ine requires more than many others the 

 agency of insects for pollination. Mr. F. de Castella, Government Viti- 

 culturist, informed me a short time ago that, during his recent visit to 

 Europe, he found, in certain districts of Spain, the pollination of grapes, 

 owing to the absence of insects, was done by hand. 



I will now give some well-known authorities in support of the statements 

 made. Professor A. J. Cook, formerly of Michigan Agricultural College, 

 and now of Pomona, California, who has paid particular attention to the 

 fertilization of fruit by bees, writing to Mr. Hopkins, Government Apiarist 

 of New Zealand, savs : — "Bees never harm blossom, but are always a 

 help. Bees are a tremendous aid through pollination. Many of our best 

 fruits must be cross fertilized to produce. Many pears, apples and plums 

 are utterly sterile to their own pollen. I am sure that it is an incontrover- 

 tible fact that bees are the great agents in pollination, and are far more 

 valuable to the world than for the honey they produce." 



The best orchardists in California now arrange with apiarists to bring 

 their bees to the orchards; they find they must have the bees. Professor 

 Waite, of the United States Department of Agriculture, covered the blos- 

 soms of apples, pears and plums with netting, excluding the bees, and 

 found that the protected blossoms of many varieties yielded no fruit. In 

 some varieties there was no exception to this rule, and he was convinced that 

 large orchards of Bartlett pears, planted distant from other varieties, would 

 be utterly barren were it not for the work of the bees, and even then thev 

 could not be profitably grown unless every third or fourth row was planted 

 with Clapp's Favourite or some other variety capable of fertilizing the 

 Bartlett. In other words, the Bartlett pear could no more fertilize its own 

 bloom than the crescent strawberry. Professor V. H. Lowe, of Geneva 

 Experimental Station, New York State, covered a set of small pear trees 

 with hoods of fine gauze, the lower end of the bag-like hood being tied to 

 the trunk of the tree to exclude insects. On all these trees was a large 

 number of buds, and all conditions favourable to a good crop, except that 

 the flight of insects was entirely cut off. The result Avas that, out of the 

 whole of the trees covered, there was just one fruit, whereas on another set 

 of trees of the same sort not covered, there was a good crop, proportionate 

 to the size of the trees. Many more similar experiments could be given, but I 

 think enough has been said that bees are very necessary to fruit-growing; 

 but of course it is not necessary to keep them in an orchard if there are 



